Kinetic Technologies, LLC

09/23/2026

Looking forward to the conversation at the Iowa Manufacturing Conference. Registration details are below!⬇️

Join us October 13 at The Meadows Events & Conference Center at Prairie Meadows for the Iowa Business Leaders Panel at the Iowa Manufacturing Conference.

Hear from Iowa business leaders as they share insights on leadership, industry trends and navigating today’s manufacturing landscape.

🎤 Mark Barglof, Kinetic Technologies, LLC
🎤 Tom Cox, SSAB Iowa
🎤 Mary Landhuis, Lisle Corporation
🎤 Debi Durham, Iowa Economic Development Authority

Don’t miss the conversation. Register for the Iowa Manufacturing Conference today: https://na2.hubs.ly/H07Zs440

08/28/2026

Before investing in welding automation, the first question should not be:

“What robot do we need?”

The better question is:
“What production constraint are we trying to solve?”

Is it weld consistency?

Throughput?

Labor availability?

Rework?

Fit-up variation?

Long lead times?

A successful robotic welding project starts with understanding the current process, the parts, the people, the bottlenecks, and the business goal.

The robot matters. The welding power source matters. The fixture matters. The programming strategy matters.

But the best automation solutions start with the problem — not the equipment. Call Kinetic, we can help.

https://kinetictechllc.com/contact/

We’d love to hear about your project, email [email protected] or call our office at (515) 395-1500 and we will get in touch soon.

08/05/2026

Kinetic Technologies was honored to receive the Integrator of Excellence Award at the Lincoln Electric Sales Summit in July. Pictured here is our own Andrew vonWiesenthal and Lincoln Electric's Benjamin Gliebe.

This recognition means a great deal to our team.

At Kinetic, we believe successful automation is built on strong partnerships, technical discipline, and a commitment to solving real production challenges for our customers. Working with partners like Lincoln Electric allows us to deliver robotic welding solutions that help manufacturers improve consistency, increase capacity, and build more flexible production systems.

We are grateful to Lincoln Electric for this recognition and for their continued partnership. We are also proud of the Kinetic team whose engineering, manufacturing, installation, service, and customer-support efforts make achievements like this possible.

Thank you to our customers, partners, and team members who continue to trust Kinetic Technologies as we help manufacturers move automation forward.

07/24/2026

Big News from Kinetic Technologies

Kinetic Technologies is expanding with a second facility in Des Moines, Iowa!

Our manufacturing operations will remain rooted in Algona, where our team will continue building, assembling, testing, and supporting custom robotic automation systems.

The new Des Moines Tech Center will focus on engineering collaboration, product development, AI implementation, and advanced automation technology.

This facility gives Kinetic a dedicated space to develop new automation products, explore AI-driven manufacturing solutions, support customer demonstrations, collaborate with partners, and continue advancing the technologies that help manufacturers solve production, quality, and workforce challenges.

This is an exciting step forward for Kinetic Technologies.

Our foundation remains in rural Iowa. Our manufacturing stays in Algona. But our headquarters and our technology development footprint is expanding into Des Moines.

We are grateful for the customers, employees, partners, families, and community members who have helped make this next step possible.

More details coming soon.

07/06/2026

Leadership doesn’t support automation because the technology is cool.

They support it when it removes a real production bottleneck.

If you manage a welding operation, you already know where things slow down.

🚩 Maybe you’re short on welders.
🚩 Maybe certain stations drag down the whole line.
🚩 Maybe you’re running overtime just to stay on schedule.

These constraints create real business impact:

Lost production hours.
Overtime costs.
Unfilled orders.
Long lead times that slow sales.

But here’s where many automation proposals fall apart:

They focus on equipment features instead of the constraint being solved.

Robot brand, torch specifications, and cell features matter — but leadership first needs to understand how the investment removes a barrier that affects revenue, delivery, quality, or capacity.

A strong business case starts with a simple diagnostic step:

Identify the real constraint.

Then validate that automation can actually solve it.

Early concepting and simulation help test assumptions around part variation, cycle times, robot reach, torch access, and technical feasibility.

From there, ROI should be built from real production data, not generic vendor templates.

Leadership needs to see numbers based on how your team welds today:

Wire usage.
Gas consumption.
Arc-on time.
Actual cycle times.
Labor requirements.
Rework.
Capacity limits.

When you show cost-per-part comparisons based on real data, the case becomes clearer.

Leadership can see how automation affects labor, quality, consumables, throughput, and capacity — not just one area.

That is when automation stops looking like a capital expense and starts looking like a production strategy.

06/30/2026

For many manufacturers, plasma cutting is more than a cutting process.

It can become a production bottleneck, a labor challenge, a safety concern, and a quality variable.

That is why Kinetic Technologies is expanding our automation capabilities with robotic plasma cutting cells.

A robotic plasma cutting solution can help manufacturers create a more repeatable process, reduce manual handling, improve workflow, and build scalable capacity around real production needs.

At Kinetic, we do not look at automation as a one-size-fits-all machine.

We look at the part, the process, the operator workflow, the controls, the safety requirements, and the long-term production goal.

If cutting is slowing down your operation, it may be time to rethink the process.

Send us your cutting challenge. https://kinetictechllc.com/

06/26/2026

Testing your robotic welding cell for the first time on the production floor is a costly mistake.

Without early validation, small design flaws surface during operation.

That leads to downtime, rework, and lost ROI potential.

We've seen it happen:
🚩 A torch can't maintain the right angle on a critical joint.
🚩 A fixture creates a collision the CAD model didn't catch.
🚩 The robot reaches the part, but it's near a singularity and motion becomes unpredictable.

By the time these issues show up on your floor, the cell is already installed.

Now you're scrambling to fix problems under production pressure.

Simulation catches these issues before anything gets built.

🚧 We test every element virtually: robot movements, fixture clearances, torch angles, part positioning, sensor placement.

The software uses actual robot controller code, so it accounts for joint kinematics, singularities, and real-world motion constraints that basic CAD can't see.

When we find a problem in simulation, we fix it in the design.

No delays. No rework. No compromises once the cell reaches your facility.

This is why simulation is built into our process for every pre-engineered cell.

The architecture may be proven, but every customer's parts are different.

Simulation ensures the customized components, tooling, and robot programming work together before we manufacture anything.

You're not paying just for hardware. You're paying for performance.

Proper simulation ensures your investment delivers at 100% from day one, not 50% after months of troubleshooting.

06/17/2026

You're already spending money, whether you invest in robotic welding or not.

If automation could improve your bottom line, then every day without it is money left on the table.

The costs of inefficient welding, missed orders, and constant rework don't show up on a single invoice. But they show up in your margins.

Every hour of limited throughput.
Every delay caused by capacity constraints.
Every part that needs grinding or re-welding.
Every welder you hire just to keep up with demand.
Every bid you lose because lead times are too long.

These hidden costs stack up quietly. Over time, they erode profit just as much as any capital expense.

Here's what maintaining the status quo actually costs:

- Hiring more welders to handle the same volume robots could manage with fewer people
- Absorbing high turnover and the constant cycle of recruiting, onboarding, training
- Losing bids or delaying deliveries because you don't have capacity
- Paying for consumable waste, rework, and inconsistent quality that never goes away

A robot isn't the right solution for every operation. But if it fits yours, the cost of inaction may be the biggest expense of all.

This is why we help customers build honest ROI models before they invest.

We want you to see the real cost of your current state, not just the price of automation.

When you compare what you're already spending to what a well-designed cell would cost, the decision becomes clearer.
Doing nothing feels safe. But it's rarely free.

Download our free ROI guide to see the hidden costs in your welding operation: https://kinetictechllc.com/robotic-welding-roi-payback-factors-guide/

06/12/2026

Maintenance access to your robotic cell shouldn't be an afterthought.

If your technicians are struggling to reach components or working around exposed cables, the cell wasn't designed right.

Downtime for maintenance is inevitable.
How long it takes depends on whether service access was designed in from day one.

✅ When cables are routed through protected tracks away from weld spatter, they last longer.
✅ When the maintenance area has proper lockout, technicians work safely.
✅ When components are positioned for access, not just clearance, repairs happen faster.

This is built into our pre-engineered templates because it affects long-term performance.

A cell that's hard to maintain becomes a cell that doesn't get maintained properly.

That leads to unplanned downtime and shortened equipment life.

Good design means thinking about the person who will be standing there at 2am troubleshooting a sensor fault.

06/08/2026

Most integrators don't manufacture their own components.
That creates two problems: parts that aren't quite right for the application, and delays waiting on outside contractors.

This is why we built our manufacturing capability in-house.

The things that make Kinetic differentiated are that a lot of the components we have are built by us.

They're designed by us and manufactured by us here in Algona, Iowa.

When engineering identifies what a cell needs: specific load capacity, custom positioning, or specialized fixturing...
We don't send drawings to a contractor and hope they get it right.

We build it ourselves.

We can do load analysis and inertial load calculations to pick the correct gearbox and motor selection.

That ensures we can handle and accommodate your specific parts.

And when something needs adjustment during integration? We make the change immediately instead of waiting on a supplier's schedule.

Traversing tailstock?
Powered tailstock?
Z-height positioning systems?

We incorporate those based on your actual part geometry and weld requirements—and manufacture them to exact specifications.

This is why our pre-engineered cells actually deliver on time.

We start with proven architectures, but the mechanical components get engineered and manufactured specifically for each project.

❌ No waiting on outside shops.
❌ No compromising the design because a contractor can't hit the tolerance or timeline.

When you control manufacturing, you control quality and schedule.

✅ That's how cells get delivered right the first time.